


The Evolution of Emma Frost

by Indiana_J



Category: X-Men, X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Gen, Post - X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23234632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indiana_J/pseuds/Indiana_J
Summary: After her rescue from the prison, Emma's growing telepathy leads her on a path away from the one Xavier hoped she would take - she'll remake herself on her own terms.
Kudos: 3





	The Evolution of Emma Frost

**Author's Note:**

> 'Technically', Emma from Origins wasn't Emma Frost but I was always intrigued by the idea of what if she was and how she could potentially grow into the Emma Frost we all know and love.

Despite the blanket that had been draped around her shoulders, Emma was unbelievably cold as they flew away from the island. Blue eyes stared out of the window as she tracked everything that slipped away and she refused to look away until the ground had faded out of sight. Even when the compound that had been her prison slipped completely away, she didn't shift her gaze because the stranger, that professor, was watching her with sharp eyes of his own.

The boy with the eye beams was asleep beside her, his exhaustion getting the better of him, but it was not Scott Summers that she knew he was paying attention to. It was her.

Her diamond ability had come first; she remembered standing on the lake by their childhood home as the winter sun had risen over the mountains. The morning light had reflected first off the water and then off of her, illuminating the area in a dazzling display of white. The look of pride on her sister's face had kept her going through the long years in captivity.

When she had been taken, her mind had been wrenched open to the world around her. But there had been no beautiful scenes to herald the emergence of her second mutant power. Instead, a heavy darkness had weighed down on her mind to the point that it had been overwhelming. The thoughts of the guards had dripped down into her subconscious and the thoughts of the fellow inmates had buzzed around like excited and caged hummingbirds. They had never known she had this power, had never even guessed it as she had kept it quiet, dormant, unwilling to use the fledgling telepathy in fear of becoming something else.

Some _one_ else, the type of person who welcomed the dark shadows on the edges of her mind.

But she'd used, truly used it, it as they were preparing to take off. A clumsy attempt to find her sister amidst the destruction that had immediately brought the strangers focus to her. For a moment, Kayla's mind had burned brightly in her own and then there had been nothing but empty silence.

It was then that their savior had turned to her as they had lifted off and said very quietly, very simply, "I am so very sorry, my dear."

She'd looked at him and raised her chin just slightly. "If you're so sorry, then didn't you come for us earlier?" she whispered. It was the last thing she said to anyone on that flight.

~~

Ethics, he had said. Manpower. A lack of attainable resources necessary at the time in order to locate and infiltrate Striker's base of operations.

Emma stared at her reflection in the mirror and sneered. Petty excuses - pretty excuses to match the house and the man. She had seen first hand what her sister had been willing to do in order to free her. One woman had overlooked the concept of ethics, or the lack of manpower or any other failing in order to achieve her goal. And in the end, Kayla's efforts had paid off.

The others, especially Summers, had been grateful to the Professor and his friend, Lehnsherr, though many of them had opted to return home to their families and old lives instead of remaining at the grounds of what would one day be a school. Emma, though, had no one else to go to. Her parents had been dead for years and for the last six years, she'd been in that god forsaken prison.

And now her sister was gone as well.

Xavier had given her a room in his mansion and an offer to attend his school with the small handful of others he had recruited. He wanted to teach her how to better use her gifts, especially the mental ones, and Emma scowled at the thought of learning from him.

His inability to use his gifts to their full potential had cost her the life of her sister and she would never forgive him for that.

Their powers might echo each other but she wanted nothing to do with Xavier’s **ethics** in the way of those powers.

No, Emma was determined to leave as soon as she could. A lawyer had gotten in touch with her, told her that she had some money coming to her from what her sister had. It wasn't much but it would have to do. She could make it work.

She _would_ make it work.

She smiled into the mirror and studied herself. Her sister had remade herself for six years in order to get her out of that hell. Emma owed it to her sister's memory to do the same now.

~~

"Emma? Where ... where are you going?"

Emma paused at the large doors that led out to the front of the grounds. Summers, of course, always the Boy Scout. "I'm not sure, actually," she responded as she turned back around. He was standing a few feet away, obviously trying to not touch the new glasses that Xavier had provided for him. "Somewhere that isn't here."

A flash of red around the corner and Emma's eyes narrowed. She had taken an instant dislike to Jean Grey - she had no desire to be friends or have a stand in sister and had taken the 'friendly' advances of the other young woman rather badly.

"You're leaving for good?" Scott asked, sounding confused.

Emma stamped down on her flash of anger - of course he was confused. To him this was the ultimate home - friends, caring 'parents', teachers for not only his mind but his ability. She would never get him to see that this represented the ultimate betrayal.

Charles fucking Xavier had more power and wealth than Emma had ever even dreamed of and he hadn't used it when he could have. And while Lehnsherr might be more sympathetic to her way of thinking, he couldn't provide her with what she needed.

Leverage. Power. The ability to make sure that if someone ever came for her again, they would be the ones to regret it.

"Poor Scott," she said mock sadly, walking back over to him. She trailed her fingers over his cheek and felt triumph when he flushed. "Come find me when you get tired of playing at school boy, okay?"

Emma turned back towards the door and headed out to find the person that her telepathy would help her turn into.

The shadows didn't frighten her anymore.

~~

The bar was upscale and grand, the grandest she’d seen yet, but she held her awe in firm check as she sipped gingerly at her free drink, all too aware what the drink would do to her and her powers.

She'd learned. 

It had taken over a year to work her way up the ladder, jumping from small fish to big fish with surprising ease. Manipulation had come easily to her and she bolstered it with her growing telepathic powers.

She flitted about the edge of the crowd, content to stop here and there to persuade the occasional gentleman or lady into buying her a drink or slipping her a bit out of their wallet. Not enough to be noticeable later but enough to ensure she had enough to live on for the week.

Emma paused as a large man in the center of the room caught her attention - he was intimidating and radiated the kind of power she had been hoping to stumble across. He was dressed sharply, richly, but it was more than what he wore or what he drank that caught her eye. She watched discretely as men and women came up and pandered to him.

No, more than that. They _flocked_ to him.

And he stood back and simply allowed it to wash over him, taking what he needed but never letting it overwhelm him. He took because he expected it, because it was his due.

Emma considered reaching out towards that impressive man on her own, using her power and decolletage to smooth her way in. But she hesitated and her intuition told her that this was a man not to be trifled with, with powers and certainly not manipulation, at least not yet, and she would need another route to get what she knew she wanted.

As an attractive, blonde man passed, Emma reached out and touched her fingers to his wrist. He paused and the momentary annoyance on his face at the touch melted away; she let her smile grow a little, knowing that he saw a shapely, young blond in a clingy white dress. 

An easy mark, he was thinking.

For one of us, she acknowledged to herself as with growing skill, she pressed her advantage and his mind fell open beneath hers.

"That man over there," she purred, "what is his name?"

The one in front of her, Pierce she now knew, glanced over. "That, my dear, is Sebastian Shaw," he supplied, giving her a half-bow as he took her hand in his.

What was unsaid, however, was of far more importance to her. 'Black King of the Hellfire Club? _Interesting_.' She’d been picking up bits and pieces about the Hellfire Club over the last few months but this was new.

This was power.

A shiver ran up her spine as Emma saw the path towards that power - his for now, borrowed for a while and then _hers_ \- unfurl at her feet. 

Emma pressed up against Pierce's side and mentally pushed just a little bit. "Ah, I know, would you like me to introduce you to him?" he asked with a brilliant smile, as if the idea was his own.

'Fool,' she thought with disdain but simply nodded her head and allowed him to lead her through the crowd towards Shaw.

This man, she realized when they stepped next to him and she finally was able to meet his eyes, was no fool. He might not have any idea of what had actually happened but one glance from her to Pierce and she knew that he was not fooled. It only caused her to smile more as she put her hand out in greeting.

Pierce started to say, "Shaw, this is, er, I'm sorry my dear but..."

Emma smiled brightly as Shaw bent over her hand to kiss it. "My name, Mr. Shaw, is Emma Frost. And I think we could be of great use to each other."

In response, Shaw raised an eyebrow but tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. He was obviously amused but intrigued as well. "How so, Ms. Frost? Perhaps you would care to tell me over dinner?"

And that was the night she put Emma Silverfox to rest alongside her sister as Emma Frost rose from the ashes.


End file.
